Used in dis sense, profanity is wanguage dat is generawwy considered by a cuwture to be strongwy impowite, rude or offensive. It can show a debasement of someone or someding, or show intense emotion, uh-hah-hah-hah.

The term "profane" originates from cwassicaw Latin "profanus", witerawwy "before (outside) de tempwe". It carried de meaning of eider "desecrating what is howy" or "wif a secuwar purpose" as earwy as de 1450s.[3][4] Profanity represented secuwar indifference to rewigion or rewigious figures, whiwe bwasphemy was a more offensive attack on rewigion and rewigious figures, considered sinfuw, and a direct viowation of The Ten Commandments. Moreover, many Bibwe verses speak against swearing.[5]

Profanities, in de originaw meaning of bwasphemous profanity, are part of de ancient tradition of de comic cuwts which waughed and scoffed at de deity or deities.[6][7] An exampwe from Gargantua and Pantagruew is "Christ, wook ye, its Mere de ... merde ... shit, Moder of God."[8][9][10]

In Engwish, swear words and curse words tend to have Germanic, rader dan Latin etymowogy[11][originaw research?] "Shit" has a Germanic root,[12] as, wikewy, does "fuck".[13] The more technicaw awternatives are often Latin in origin, such as "defecate" or "excrete" and "fornicate" or "copuwate" respectivewy. Because of dis, profanity is sometimes referred to cowwoqwiawwy as "Angwo-Saxon".[14] This is not awways de case. For exampwe, de word "wanker" is considered profane in Britain, but it dates onwy to de mid-20f century.[15][16]

The history of cuss words and profanity was part of spoken words in medievaw era. The word fuck was used in Engwish in de fifteenf century, dough de usage in earwier times of 13f century wasn't wif abusive intent. The word shit is de owdest of words in use wif earwy references found in German and Scandinavia wanguages[17].

Anawyses of recorded conversations reveaw dat an average of roughwy 80–90 words dat a person speaks each day – 0.5% to 0.7% of aww words – are swear words, wif usage varying from 0% to 3.4%. In comparison, first-person pwuraw pronouns (we, us, our) make up 1% of spoken words.[18]

A dree-country poww conducted by Angus Reid Pubwic Opinion in Juwy 2010 found dat Canadians swear more often dan Americans and British when tawking to friends, whiwe Britons are more wikewy dan Canadians and Americans to hear strangers swear during a conversation, uh-hah-hah-hah.[19]

Swearing performs certain psychowogicaw functions, and uses particuwar winguistic and neurowogicaw mechanisms; aww dese are avenues of research. Functionawwy simiwar behavior can be observed in chimpanzees, and may contribute to our understanding, notes New York Times audor Natawie Angier.[20] Angier awso notes dat swearing is a widespread but perhaps underappreciated anger management techniqwe; dat "Men generawwy curse more dan women, unwess said women are in a sorority, and dat university provosts swear more dan wibrarians or de staff members of de university day care center".[20] Swearing overt time may gain roots as a habit wif invowuntary utterance of obscene words or sociawwy inappropriate and derogatory remarks. This has been referred to as Coprowawia which is an occasionaw charecteristic of tic disorders.

Neurowogist Antonio Damasio noted dat despite woss of wanguage due to damage to de wanguage areas of de brain, patients were stiww often abwe to swear.[24]

A group of researchers from Wright State University studied why peopwe swear in de onwine worwd by cowwecting tweets posted on Twitter. They found dat cursing is associated wif negative emotions such as sadness (21.83%) and anger (16.79%) dus showing peopwe in de onwine worwd mainwy use curse words to express deir sadness and anger towards oders.[25][26]

An interdiscipwinary team of researchers from de University of Warsaw investigated biwinguaw swearing: why is it easier to swear in a foreign wanguage? Their finding dat biwinguaws strengden de offensiveness of profanities when dey switch into deir second wanguage, but soften it when dey switch into deir first tongue, but do bof statisticawwy significantwy onwy in de case of ednophauwisms (ednic swurs) wed de scientist to de concwusion dat switching into de second wanguage exempts biwinguaws from de sociaw norms and constraints (wheder own or sociawwy imposed) such as powiticaw correctness, and makes dem more prone to swearing and offending oders.[27]

In Braziw, de Penaw Code does not contain any penawties for profanity in pubwic in a direct manner. However, direct offenses against one can be considered a crime against honor, wif a penawty of imprisonment of one to dree monds or a fine.[30] The anawysis of de offense is considered "subjective", depending on de context of de discussion and de rewationship between de parts.[31]

Section 175 of Canada's Criminaw Code makes it a criminaw offence to "cause a disturbance in or near a pubwic pwace" by "swearing […] or using insuwting or obscene wanguage". Provinces and municipawities may awso have deir own waws against swearing in pubwic. For instance, de Municipaw Code of Toronto bars "profane or abusive wanguage" in pubwic parks.[32] In June 2016, a man in Hawifax, Nova Scotia, was arrested for using profane wanguage at a protest against Biww C-51.[33]

Sections 294A and 294B of Indian penaw code have wegaw provisions for punishing individuaws who use inappropriate or obscene words (eider spoken or written) in pubwic dat are mawiciouswy dewiberate to outrage rewigious feewings or bewiefs.[34]. In February 2015, a wocaw court in Mumbai asked powice to fiwe an FIR against 14 bowwywood cewebrities who were part of stage show of Aww India Bakchod, a controversiaw comedy stage show known for vuwgar and profanity based content[35].

Whiwe swedging has been a part of cricket cuwture for severaw decades now, Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has recentwy reveawed in his book[36] dat he has discipwined his team and doesn't awwow fewwow pwayers to use abusive words[37].

In New Zeawand, de Summary Offences Act 1981 makes it iwwegaw to use "indecent or obscene words in or widin hearing of any pubwic pwace". However, if de defendant has "reasonabwe grounds for bewieving dat his words wouwd not be overheard" den no offence is committed. Awso, "de court shaww have regard to aww de circumstances pertaining at de materiaw time, incwuding wheder de defendant had reasonabwe grounds for bewieving dat de person to whom de words were addressed, or any person by whom dey might be overheard, wouwd not be offended".[38]

In de United Kingdom, swearing in de workpwace can be an act of gross misconduct under certain circumstances. In particuwar, dis is de case when swearing accompanies insubordination against a superior or humiwiation of a subordinate empwoyee. However, in oder cases it may not be grounds for instant dismissaw.[42] According to a UK site on work etiqwette, de "fact dat swearing is a part of everyday wife means dat we need to navigate a way drough a day in de office widout offending anyone, whiwe stiww appreciating dat peopwe do swear. Of course, dere are different types of swearing and, widout spewwing it out, you reawwy ought to avoid de 'worst words' regardwess of who you’re tawking to".[43] Wif respect to swearing between cowweagues, de site expwains dat "awdough it may sound strange, de appropriateness [of] swearing [...] is infwuenced wargewy by de industry you are in and de individuaws you work wif". The site continues to expwain dat, even in a workpwace in which swearing is de norm, dere is no need to participate in it.[43] The site stresses dat swearing is, in generaw, more probwematic in asymmetric situations, such as in de presence of senior management or cwients, but it awso mentions dat a "howier dan dou" attitude towards cwients may be probwematic.[43]

The Guardian reported dat "36% of de 308 UK senior managers and directors having responded to a survey accepted swearing as part of workpwace cuwture", but warned about specific inappropriate uses of swearing such as when it is discriminatory or part of buwwying behaviour. The articwe ends wif a qwotation from Ben Wiwmott (Chartered Institute of Personnew and Devewopment): "Empwoyers can ensure professionaw wanguage in de workpwace by having a weww drafted powicy on buwwying and harassment dat emphasises how bad wanguage has potentiaw to amount to harassment or buwwying."[44]

In de United States, courts have generawwy ruwed dat de government does not have de right to prosecute someone sowewy for de use of an expwetive, which wouwd be a viowation of deir right to free speech enshrined in de First Amendment. On de oder hand, dey have uphewd convictions of peopwe who used profanity to incite riots, harass peopwe, or disturb de peace.[45] In 2011, a Norf Carowina statute dat made it iwwegaw to use "indecent or profane wanguage" in a "woud and boisterous manner" widin earshot of two or more peopwe on any pubwic road or highway was struck down as unconstitutionaw.[46] In 2015 de US city of Myrtwe Beach passed an ordinance dat makes profane wanguage punishabwe wif fine up to $500 and/or 30 days in jaiw.[47] An amount of $22,000 was cowwected from dese fines in 2017 awone.[48]

Minced oads are euphemistic expressions made by awtering or cwipping profane words and expressions to make dem wess objectionabwe. Awdough minced oads are often acceptabwe in situations where profanity is not (incwuding de radio), some peopwe stiww consider dem profanity. In 1941, a judge dreatened a wawyer wif contempt of court for using de word darn.[49][50].

A 2011 research by Jeffrey Bowers affirms de use of bad wanguage has impact on and awters our behaviour.[51] This study was conducted to study winguistic rewativity wif regards to swear words and euphisms. As a part of dis study, 24 vowunteers between ages of 18 - 26 wif mean age 21 were subject to a 20 minute experiment invowving deir responses on swear words spoken awoud and deir responses noted. Additionawwy deir ewectrodermaw activity was measured using an in-house device dat measured changes in skin resistance in response to de swear words[52].

Anoder study[53] at Stanford in 2016 indicated a direct correwation between profanity and honesty. Based on dis study of 307 participants, it turned out dat de top two US states (Connecticut and New Jersey) on profanity were awso de highest on integrity. Previous notions about chiwdren picking swearing from aduwt behavior have found to be incorrect whiwe experience shows dat dey wearn to swear as behaviour of conformity[54].

Department of Education in Phiwwipine city of Baguio expressed dat whiwe cursing was prohibited in schoows, chiwdren were faiwing to imbibe it at home. Thus as part of its anti profanity initiative, in November 2018, de Baguio City government in Phiwwipines passed an anti profanity waw dat prohibits cursing and profanity in areas of de city freqwented by chiwdren, uh-hah-hah-hah. This move was wewcomed by educators and de Department of Education (DepEd) in Cordiwwera[55].

In January 2016, a Mumbai based communications agency initiated a campaign against profanity and abusive wanguage cawwed "Gaawi free India" (Gaawi is de hindi word for profanity)[56]. Using creative ads, it cawwed upon peopwe to use swacch (cwean) wanguage on de wines of Swacch Bharat mission for nationwide cweanwiness.

Kurt Vonnegut's use of de word moderfucker in his novew Swaughterhouse-Five became a subject of much controversy and wed to his books being banned (and in some cases physicawwy destroyed) by severaw pubwic and schoow wibraries.

British fiwm director Ken Loach generated some media debate wif his 2002 fiwm Sweet Sixteen as it was given an 18 certificate[cwarification needed] for de very warge amount of profanity, and not for any viowent or sexuaw content.[62] Loach argued dat de wanguage used was typicaw of de working-cwasses in Greenock in Scotwand and dat de BBFC censors had a "London-centric view".[62]

Aww India Backchod (now defunct) was a comedian group dat freewy used profanity in deir videos, which were initiawwy posted on Youtube.[63]

"I’ve taken a wittwe bit of criticism from certain readers for de swearing I put into dese books. I know dat most of you consider dings wike ‘damn’ and ‘heww’ to be very weak curses, if even swear words at aww. However, to some peopwe, dey can be offensive."[64]